Thursday, August 31, 2017

Stonehell: Ghost Beggars Final Ambush

Session 43 was played on 7/25

Eiric, wizard 5 (Kat)
- torch bearers (Kali)
- men at arms (D, E, F)
- Naideen(dog)
A-A-Ron, Thief 5 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 5 (Henchman)
Karl, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- Hobart (dog)
- men at arms (Kardo)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 5)

Back in town and flush with cash, the Eiric hires F, and Karl hires Kardo the torch bearer, instantly promotes him to M@A with a shnazzy new suit of armor and a new weapon! Kardo isn’t sure about this turn of events…

The party gathers and heads back to the dungeon, aiming to check out the remains of the nest they burned last visit. Unfortunately, before they could make it that far, they were ambushed in the Antechamber by some Ghost Beggars!

Starting the ambush with several tossed vials of oil, they waited till the party was halfway through an intersection, catching Eiric solidly with the burning oil. Karl also got hit, and his dog Hobart, in a panic, managed to catch his own fur on fire. F dropped from the damage. Orpheus and the rest of the party slaughtered the bandits in response. It seems that 5 bandits, even armed with oil and some magic arrows (that they never got to use) wasn’t enough…

Gathering up all the bodies, the party drags them out to the magic grove, and strings up the Ghost Beggars among the trees. They then head back to town to deal with their burns.

***

Eiric decides to spend some time in the library while back in town, doing some basic research, and manages to cross some wires in her brain. Suddenly, she doesn’t understand even basic common, but the language of the dwarves comes naturally to her.

Meanwhile, Karl and Orpheus interview new hires, and pick Paris Hilton (who claims she can outrun a bear, Gryx (now called Groot) and Hurley (now called Herbie).

***

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon, Zoral Gnast, leader of the Ghost Beggars decides to deal with Eiric and Co. once and for all. He hires an outcast Ogre from the Korners, along with its 4 Orc bodyguards, and lays another ambush. This time, with every available hand that can swing a club!

***

The party heads back to the dungeon. Knowing that the Antechamber is mostly cleared out and safe, and that the Ghost Beggars will have been suitably cowed, they go stomping down the stairs into Stonehell. Once the party is in the entrance chamber, the ambush is sprung, and from nearly every door they rush the party. For once, they’re outnumbered!

In the first round, the bandits surge out, hacking into the party. Paris and Kali drop, as do 6 of the bandits.

In the second round, the orcs drop D, the bandits drop F. Darryl hits the ogre, which just pisses it off. A-A-Ron uses his new magic arrows on an orc, causing them to run. The bandit leader has his magic sword knocked from his grip, and the bandits generally are less than inspiring.

Round 3, Eiric magic missiles the orge, while Orpheus kills the unarmed bandit leader. A-A-Ron shoots the orge with another magic arrow.

Round 4, the last bandit drops, as does the orge. The fight is over…

Darryl uses his healing magic on the hirelings. The little treasure the bandits carried is collected, including the leader’s magic sword. Leaving the bodies where they fell, the party heads back to town, and promptly sells the magic sword.

*DM Note - WHAT THE FUCK?!?! Sell a magic sword?!?


Darryl hits level 6. Eiric tries her hand at more research, and manages to cause her ears to grow 4 times their normal size! Karl hosts a sedate Dwarven Tea Party.

Gains: 50gp, 20cp, Sword +1/+2 vs Lycanthropes (Sold for 3420gp), Screaming Arrows +1 x14, 2x 50gp gems
Kills: 21 Ghost Beggars, 4 orcs, 1 ogre, Zoral Gnast
Losses: NONE!!

DM's Note: The Ghost Beggar cave is now mostly unguarded, as is the Ogres lair... if they choose to look for them.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Stonehell: Glitter!

Session 42 was played on 7/23 (Sunday Morning Special Game)

Eiric, wizard 5 (Kat)
- torch bearers (Kali)
- men at arms (C, D, PP, E)
- Naideen(dog)
A-A-Ron, Thief 5 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 5 (Henchman)
Karl, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- Hobart (dog)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 5)

Yet another dwarf shows up to take Matthias’ place, again claiming to be a cousin of Wilhelm, Matthias, and the various other dwarves who have journeyed with Eiric.

Darryl decides to stay in town to oversee the establishment of the kennel business, and keep an eye on the nuns.

Eiric rounds everyone else up, and heads into the dungeon. They safely make their way through the Antechamber, avoiding a bucket of magnetic glitter, which had been set as a trap. It didn’t seem like the work of the kobolds though… The party took the bucket of glitter with them.

Returning to the area Without Doors, and the sight of the previous massacre the party suffered from. The dome was now blank, the writing gone with the triggering of the trap. A-A-Ron took the levitation potion, and floated up to the ceiling to investigate the numerous decorations. He triggered a small trap door, and hundreds of coins crashed to the floor.

Moving on, a map room was next found, with one wall containing the map of the box canyon and surroundings, while the other was an unknown area. D volunteers to takes the time to draw the map painted on the wall, while A-A-Ron found a secret cache of coins stacked neatly in the leg of a table. Leaving D, the party goes across the hall, and finds a large conference room. Sadly, no secret stashes of money were found. Returning to the map room, Eiric found that D copied the wrong map, and so retasked him to draw the other map.

Poking around while D finished up, the party then headed back to the headless statue of the woman pierced by a score of arrows. A-A-Ron climbed up the statue, and poked around in the neck hole, and discovered an almost comically large brass key.

Moving on, they come to an elaborate silvery abstract sculpture that’s also a working fountain. The liquid was also silvery, and the party opted not to drink it. Moving on, they found a bag lying on the floor of the hallway, the strap broken. Within was a hunk of bologna, a small wheel of cheese, and a flask of whiskey. They snagged it, because why not.

The next doorway opened into a small square room, bare of furnishing, and only a small black slick. However, under a loose cobblestone, the discover a tunnel leading off to a secret panic room… sadly they were not the first to discover it, and nothing of value could be found.

Heading up and around, they enter a large chamber with a vaulted ceiling, and a Hobgoblin squad! Some insults, a tossed rock, and combat was begun at range, until Karl ran toward them, smashing one with his ax. It was at that unfortunate moment that Eiric let loose with a lightning bolt, killing the hobgoblins, badly hurting Karl, and causing the glitter that Karl carried to explode out into a highly charged magnetic cloud that filled the northern doorway to the chamber.

Dragging Karl out of the cloud, the party packs up and heads out of the dungeon.

Back in town Karl heals up, hires Wolwin (F), and then they head back in!

Returning to the quadrant Without Doors, they head back through to the chamber with the silver fountain, then down past an empty room to a large chamber with a squad of hobgoblins on watch. Deciding to skip that, they circle around to a room with a carved spider web. The carving is somehow sticky to the touch…

Back around to the silver fountain, they then come to a room with low benches and a dry font. A voice intones “discard your raiments and cleanse thy hands and feet.” Only Karl does so, stripping down to nothing, but finding no water to wash with, he takes a swig of whisky and considers the job done. A-A-Ron sneaks down a side passage where a voice can be heard. Within the ruins of a large chapel, up on a splintering scorched pulpit a skeletal figure in ruined robes burns with green and red flames that don’t seem to harm him. From his thin lips a constant stream of a fire and brimstone sermon pour. As A-A-Ron listens, the sermon shifts to the dangers of eavesdropping and skulking. A-A-Ron takes this as a divine sign to NOPE the hell out and away. Back to the party, he shares what happens, and everyone agrees that he made the right choice.

Moving along, they come to another fountain, this one dry, with a statue of a crying woman on it.

Then they come to the chamber with the buzzing that they’d heard before. With their handy powerthirst, they soak the papery nest and light it up. While the smoke filled the air, the party decided to head back to town before deciding on their next move.

Gains: Lots of loose coins
Kills: 6 Hobgoblins,
Losses: Bucket of glitter, C, PP

Monday, August 28, 2017

Stonehell: I prepared Chill Script today

Session 41 was played on 7/18

Eiric, wizard 5 (Kat)
- torch bearers (Kali)
- men at arms (B, C, D, PP)
- Namish (dog)
A-A-Ron, Thief 5 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 5 (Henchman)
Matthias, Dwarf 5 (Julia)
- men at arms ( Nnnn, QQ, Kiln.)
- Herrick (dog)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 5)

Borumar Half Orc Fighter 4 (Josh) Ghosting
Poppet, Elf 1 (Nicole) Ghosting

Picking up where we left off last time, the party was recovering in the area Without Doors hanging out with some berserkers, drinking and singing their time away. Matthias shares some magnet rocks with them in thanks, and then the party continues on.

A large chamber just east of the great hall with decorative hemispherical cutouts on the ceiling. The largest one in the center of the room had inscribed into it the face of an old bearded man yelling. In his open mouth were some weird squiggles. Matthias had Nnnn and QQ boost him higher to see what they were.

“I prepared Chill Script today” he read out slowly. As his mind understood what the words were, the blast of arctic cold left everyone covered in frost. While Matthias survived the blast, both dogs, Nnn, QQ, Kiln, and B are all frozen to death. Grabbing the bodies, the party heads up the stairs from the Asylum to the Antechamber, but the way is blocked! The Ghost Bandits had prepared for them. The stairs were oiled, and as the party approached, lit! Matthias tries to charge through the fire to attack the 5 bandits he could see. Unfortunately the damage he’d suffered from the Chill Script meant that he collapsed, lungs full of burning hot smoke, and his clothing and equipment on fire.

The party turns back down the stairs, and works their way quickly around to the Reptile House and then up to the back door of the Korners. There they grab another load of beer, and head through the Contested Corridors and into the Antechamber and out. Thankfully no more Ghost Beggars were seen.

Back in town, Cousin Karl finds Eiric to find out what happened to his cousin Matthias, and vows to avenge his death against the Ghost Beggars.

Drinks are shared, bonus paid to the surviving hirelings, and death dues paid to the families of the fallen. E is hired. The orphanage gets a new job, running a breeding kennel for wardogs using seed money from Eiric.

After 2 weeks in town, the party is ready to head back into the dungeon….

Gains: None
Kills: None
Losses: Matthias, both dogs, Nnn, QQ, Kiln, and B, 1 900 gp hat pin

After Game:
“Dwarf, good, you’re awake… my name is Zoral, and you’re going to tell me everything about your friends.” The black bearded bandit holds up a hot poker. “And the sooner you do, the sooner the pain stops.”

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Bones 4: 1 week to go!

Bones 4 is down to the last week of the kickstarter, and as expected there are a lot of cool minis.

This is the $100 core set, and it's still growing.

For $100 you're getting minis for about $0.83 each... including the dragon, and the pig with the pumpkin cart!!

And there's so much more. Demons, paints, giants, terrain (Including Baba Yaga's Hut!), and multiple expansions. Need sci-fi? There's Chronoscape expansion. Dark swampy fantasy? Dreadmere! Underdark? Darkreach!

So much good stuff. Click here to check it all out!

Friday, August 18, 2017

Stonehell: Small Men, Slime, and Flowers

Session 40 was played on 6/20

Eiric, wizard 5 (Kat)
- torch bearers (Kali)
- men at arms (B, C, D, PP)
- Namish (dog)
A-A-Ron, Thief 5 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 5 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 5 (Julia)
- men at arms ( Nnnn, QQ, Kiln.)
- Herrick (dog)
Borumar Half Orc Fighter 4 (Josh)
Poppet, Elf 1 (Nicole)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 5)

Both Eiric and Matthias have relatively staid parties in town, gather everyone up, and head back into the dungeon. A group of the Ghost Beggars nod warrily at them in the Antechamber, but no one seems interested in engaging in either talk or combat.

Heading down into the formerly Contested Corridors, and toward the Korners, they’re set upon by a swarm of Stirges. The combat was notable only for Nnnn stabbing himself, fainting at the sight of his own blood, and Darryl having to heal him. The make it to the Korners, drop off the beer, and head back to town.

Returning the next day, they make for the quadrant Without Doors. The first new chamber they explore is full of pig iron, rotted coils of rope, and an old carpet covering most of the floor. Matthias’ keen dwarven senses pick up on the fact that there’s a pit trap under the carpet right about the time he falls into it. In a fall that would kill nearly anyone, he somehow survives. At the bottom of the shaft, Matthias finds himself in a hallway, humid and full of the smells of plant growth. The corridor is lit by some unseen source, and there’s vines and flowers bushes and all sorts of growth everywhere. Across from where he landed is a door. He yells this up the shaft, and Eiric tells him to leave it alone, and to grab the rope they’re dropping for him. He does grab the rope, but then forces open the door revealing what was at one point a store room. It has been taken over by the plants as well. He grabs a while bell shaped flower as big as his head at about the same time a rope is pulled up.

Matthias spends the whole time he’s being hauled up sniffing the flower. He weaves it into his beard after showing everyone what he found.

Circling back around toward the main hall, they come upon a bat colony, complete with several giant bats! The party’s archers attack, causing the whole colony to swarm! In the confusion Namish attacks Eiric, C attacks B, Cali attacks A-A-Ron, while most of the rest of the party just ducks down to avoid the chaos. The big bats are eventually killed, while the rest of the colony flies off to the main chamber.

After cleaning all the guano off of themselves, they press on, and come to a room where 4 small naked pale men (very much not halflings) are painting swirls in lurid neon colors on the floor and walls. The ceiling has a bunch of iron spikes nailed in, set in a figure 8.

Matthias offers them beer, which they think is gross. Everyone else just shrugs, as they don’t seem interested in talking. Mostly they just watch with their large pale eyes.

Moving down the hall, they come to a room with white circles painted on the floor, and in each, a macabre scene of 6 dead rats with their tails tied together. Matthias uses his 10’ pole to poke at the rats. The small men, who’d been creeping in behind rush past the party to fix the layout of the rats. They then glare at the party silently. Walking around the circles, the party moves on, trying not to piss off the small men.

The next chamber, south of the great hall, is moldy, wet, and the 7 skeletons clinging to each other in the far corner is worrying. Predictably, Matthias pokes it with his stick. They fall apart.

The next chamber contains an odd statue, a headless woman pierced by a score of arrows. The ceiling drips, and the floor is cracked. Thankfully they notice the green slime above the door before it can drop on anyone. It slowly chases them past the skeletons and back toward the main hall. Seeing as it’s much slower than the party, they regroup, and light it up with Power Thirst. It creates the most god awful smell, and fills the area with rank black smoke. While it burns the party explores way from the smoke.

A giant rusty weather-vane stands on a low platform, pointing north. After a thorough investigation the party finds the platform moves. With everyone working together they shift it, and reveal a shallow pit with silver trade bars, gold coins, and some jewelry.

After retrieving the treasure they press on into a new hallway, when a mighty gust of wind blows out their torches, and knocks down half the party. Eiric’s amulet of hope lights up, and the party picks themselves up, relights their torches, and looks for danger. Finding no imminent attack, they press on.

A 3 eyed symbol looks out at them from behind an altar. Upon the altar are 3 scrolls. Eiric reaches for them, and is blasted by the eyes, blowing apart into gas. Borumar seeing the party leadership open up (and the map destroyed) goes for the scrolls. He dodges the eyes’ beam and runs from the room.

Leadership doesn’t go to well for him as at the next doorway he takes a berserker ax to the face. Realizing who they just attacked, they offer drink and rest. The party accepts, and about 30 minutes later Eiric reappears, telling them how she was turned into gas, but could still see and hear everything. Borumar’s face still hurts.

Gains: 7 silver trade bars, 200 gp, 3 pieces of jewelry
Kills: 3 Giant Bats, Green Slime, Stirges,
Losses: Eiric (almost)

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Kagunk, Ogre Boss with Demon Shield!

Reaper's Kagunk, Ogre Boss was July's Hangout Figure of the Month, and while I haven't been hanging out much lately, I have been trying to paint when I can.



As usual, Kagunk got a good wash and scrub with dish soap and a tooth brush, then hot glued onto a cork.



I removed the shield, and primed him with Brown Liner



The flesh was based with Ruddy Flesh, the eyes Linen White.



The armor was done with shadowed steel. The tunic fabric was painted with a combination of Imperial Purple and Icy Violet.





The face of the shield was basecoated with Dragon Red.



The Ruddy Flesh was brought up with Linen White, while Dragon Red was used on the leather, and then both the leather and armor were washed with Bloodhowl's homemade Armor Wash. The scabard was painted with IMEF Olive.



The red was brought up with Fire Red, and then Phoenix Red. The holes of the face painted with Pale Green, Alien Goo, Neon Yellow, and a blend of Clear Green and Clear Yellow.



The armor plates were done with tarnished brass, that was then washed with a thinned Clear Green. Not sure the effect is really noticeable.



The horn, skulls, and teeth were painted with Dirty Bone, while the wood of the club and shield were painted primarily with Woodland Brown washed with both Bloodhowl's Heavy Sepia and Armor.





Love this shield...



I'm really pleased with how he came out! Still need to do the base of course...

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Gideon Lorr, Witch Hunter Inquisitor

With the release of the new edition of Warhammer 40K, I got an itch to work on something from that universe. Digging through my figure cases and box of unpainted/unassembled minis, I found that I hadn't brought very many Games Workshop minis with me. The only 40K mini that I could find was a special edition inquisitor figure Gideon Lorr. While I wasn't much for most Imperial armies, the Inquisitors were pretty cool, and the most interesting of the sculpts.

So, as there was nothing else, he's what I worked on. And while I generally prefer to stick with my Khorne army, this is a great sculpt! I started off with it already primed, so I just stuck it to a cork with hot glue, gave it a gentle wash to get rid of any dust or oils that might have gotten on it in the last decade.



I started with painting the over coat, waistcoat, and gaiters using IMEF Olive and Leather Brown. The plasma gun, powerfist, and other metalic bits were painted with armor, and the coils painted with emerald green. The purity seals were painted with... Buckskin maybe?





The olive and leather were brought up be mixing in some linen white. The purity seals, some of the backpack, the face mask, and hat band were done with Dragon Red, brought up with Fire Red. Details were picked out with Dragon Blue.







Yes, I even painted the eyeball that you can only see if the lighting is perfect, and the mini is held at exactly the right angle.



The grip on the gun was linen white. The golden colors were a mix of Dragon Copper, Dragon Gold, and Dwarven Gold, sometimes mixed with some homemade Armor Wash.



If I ever decide to run an imperial force, this guy is probably gonna be included!

Monday, August 14, 2017

Stonehell: Golems, Spiders, and Snakes

Session 39 was played on 6/13, and was the first session played over video chat.

Eiric, wizard 5 (Kat)
- torch bearers (Kali)
- men at arms (B, C, D)
- Namish (dog)
AARon, Thief 4 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 5 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 5 (Julia)
- men at arms (Mordu, Nnnn, OOood, PP.)
- Herrick (dog)
Borumar Half Orc Fighter 4 (Josh)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 5)

In town, Matthias had some golden fabric fashioned into a golden pirate hat, while Borumar wore his bit as a bandana. Proudly wearing these, the party headed into the dungeon.

The head down through the Antechamber into the Asylum where the almost immediately hear singing! A party of Berzerkers is heading up toward the Korners. They wish the adventurers success and move on. The party continues along the hall toward the area to the south Without Doors. Just a bit down the hall, a trio of spiders sets upon the party, but they’re woefully outnumbered. In spite of this, one spider manages to know Matthias onto his ass with a pair of amazing critical hits!

Borumar pokes fun at Matthias, and the dwarf doesn’t take it well. Feeling his ego bruised, Matthias takes it out on Borumar. They scuffle, and Eiric threatens to turn this dungeon around if they don’t behave. They mumble that they’ll be good, and they continue on their way.

Turning out of the main central hall of this section they come to an abattoir, soaked in blood and guys. The 3 ghouls making the mess were repelled by Darryl who was having none of this, and the party jumped on them, killing them before they could even get in a swipe.

Across the hall was a dusty old sitting room, complete with a stopped grandfather clock. The next room was apparently some sort of workshop, long ago looted for anything of value. The hallway out was choked with webs. Returning to the sitting room, the party paused for a drink and a bite to eat. While taking a load off, a group of fairies popped their heads into the room from the hallway. The party was polite, but sent them on their way.

Getting that look in his eye, Matthias grabbed a bottle of powerthirst, and headed back to the webbed hallway, and lit it up! The smoke thankfully didn’t collect, as there weren’t any doors to block it, and the webs burned quickly. Once the flames were down, the party pressed on into a room with 10 rough wooden puppets each 4’ tall. Of course one of them was animated, and attacked. Few weapons hurt it, but the magic the party did have was enough to hack it apart. The rest of the puppets were knocked apart just in case. Borumar snagged an arm from the animated puppet.

Heading out of the puppet room, the party came to a hallway lined with small cells. Killing off some snakes and spider in the first 2 cells cut down the party’s number. Matthias’ strong dwarven constitution saved his life, but Mordu and Oood turned kind of purple and twitched for a while. Orpheus shined as he critted with his horned shield on a spider!

In the final cell, a ghost emerged, screaming in rage! Their moral shot, they ran not only from the quadrants, but from the dungeon.

Gains: arm of wood golem
Kills: Zombies, Ghouls, Wood Golem, Vipers,
Losses: Mordu, Oooodd

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

The Dungeon Rats


I'm not generally a big fan of actual play podcasts, and I don't often pay attention to unsolicited e-mails asking me to blog about things. I can't even tell you what it is about it this time that made me pay attention. Maybe it was the fact that they actually referenced stuff that I'd blogged about.

Either way, I did pay attention, and responded that I'd check out their podcast, but made no promises about blogging about it. Well, since them, I've made it to episode 6. Clearly, they're doing something right...



But Dungeon Rats isn't just an actual play podcast. There's plenty of those out there. This one uses audience participation. Monsters, scenarios, magic items, traps, and more are submitted, and the DM weaves them into the game.



In addition to the fun and sometimes ridiculous stuff that gets suggested (Blink Corgis?!?), these guys make an hour long podcast a whole lot of fun. The characters are interesting, and they players really get into role playing them. They also are more than willing to go along with whatever craziness the DM (and the audience) throws at them.

It also avoids the overly long introduction that too many podcasts use, and keeps the music and sound effects to a minimum, only using them when they'll actually enhance the action. It's also really well edited, making the sessions, which must run longer than an hour, into action packed chunks that take almost exactly the length of time it takes me to walk to and from my FLGS.

All in all, if you're interested in podcasts, this is one worth checking out.

The Dungeon Rats
The Dungeon Rats on Twitter

Monday, August 7, 2017

Little Keep on the Borderlands Session Reports

Session reports from the past 2 weeks of my 5E game at The Brooklyn Strategist.



To Her Grace, Canoness Iseult of the Anchorage on the Bluffs, Blessed of Bachontoi,

Dearest Sister,

I hope this letter finds you well. I'm sure word has gotten to you that I've been deputized and sent into the Borderlands; have no fear, I am still in one piece. My companions and I have been using diplomacy and discretion as much as valor in our endeavors here.

There has been use for our sword arms however, as we have come in contact with a large number of hobgoblins. We noticed them scouting farms and followed a group back to their lair, thanks to the tracking skills of the elf Wolfsbane. The hobgoblin lair turned 9ut to be a sturdy and quickly built fort, supporting around 100 soldiers. When we captured a scout and Marceline the bard charmed him, we learned that this company was the vanguard of a force he referred to as "the Legion." We also learned their plan was to raid the surrounding farms, force the people into the keep, then crack it with siege weapons. Sure enough, we fought off a raiding party later that night. We regrouped in the keep to make a plan and confer with our allies. The goblins offered to guide us to the Hobs' supply route and we intend to lay an ambush tomorrow morning.

I beseech you sister, use whatever influence you have to get support for us out here. Father will ignore any letters I send, Garth hates me more than Father does, and Kay does not have the political clout necessary to get troops up here. Till then we will do what we can.

Your loving brother,

Tristan.
---------------------

To the Count Eoghan DuKaine, defender of the Eastern Marches, Keeper of the Key of the Moon, Lord of Highmark.

Father,

I doubt that you will read this, but perhaps Valda will do so before letting you throw it in the fire. The hobgoblin situation has become more dire. The supply wagons and reinforcements indicate a much larger force is supporting them. Their siege weapons have turned out to be giants. Giants. While we manged to plunder two wagons, I feel we may be flies stinging a lion.

Dont feel you are doing this for me, our lands lie not far from the border. Or are you not still the "Defender of the East?"

While I live I shall remain, your loving son,

Tristan.

P.S. I still love her, and will marry her.



And then a report from last week...



Entry of Wolfsbane’s Journal

So I was still breathing.

Today’s start was certainly worse than what I expected. After the Kenku disappeared a barbarian sort of teleported in his place. He was Lorenzo’s friend, though how he appeared and the Kenku disappeared was beyond my understanding. Just as we all got our attention drawn to this interesting event, the Dragonborn escaped the fight and we had 5 only people.

Soon two outriders arrived, and we quickly dispatched them without a scratch. All looked well, until the main body of the caravan came. Ten Hobgoblins were coming at us. Each of our frontline fighters was fighting against 4 of them. They must be super lucky as they managed to survive for a while.

Unfortunately, we did not realize that Hobgoblins brought a silly Hill giant with them. At first, Roland was struck down. The Gnome helped him up, only to get clubbed down shortly afterwards. Our only hope was the raging barbarian who might get a chance to fight him and do some damage. Sadly, he got a club right into his face, and became a dead body shortly afterwards.

At that point I totally abandoned my initial thought of kiting the giant to death. It is doable, but too risky. A dead giant is not worth it anymore. I lured the thing into the woods and lost him, almost got hit by a log he threw at me. Meanwhile Roland and Lorenzo managed to collect the bodies and escaped with Hobgoblin’s wagon.

Overall, it was either a bitter victory or a not so bad defeat. We have the Hobgoblins’ supplies, and they lost way more men than we did. On the other hand, as their numbers keep increasing, it is only a matter of time we are overrun by them. The reinforcements from the capital better be hurry.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Werebat

“Get down!” Nimble yelled while taking his own advice. The mountain side path didn’t offer much in the way of protection, but the bat-winged monsters had some trouble getting in close enough to rake with their claws.

Rathgar took the brunt of one attack against his shield, bracing himself against the mountain itself while striking back with his broadsword. The high pitched scream as the blade bit into his attacker’s leg nearly deafened the party as it seemed to ring on in their ears.

“Feris! Do you still have the tangle-root bag?” Allianora called out, swatting another of the creatures away with her mace.

Feris’ eyes went wide “Yes!” He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small sack, and lifted it triumphantly.

Having been rebuffed by the heavily armed and armored cleric, the bat-monster swooped over and grabed Feris’ upraised arm in one claw, and the sack in the other. Feris screamed as the claws dug into his arm, blood flowing quickly out. With a few beats of its leathery wings Feris was pulled up and toward the cliff edge. Nimble leapt up from behind a large rock, and ran toward them.

Rathgar’s opponent tried to get away, but as it tried to turn and flap away, keeping it’s injured leg away from the warrior, his blade cut through its wing, and the monster tumbled down to the ground, and then bounced painfully down the steep slope.

Following Nimble’s lead, Allianora also charged for the monster dragging Feris. Nimble got there first, his short blade slicing across the creature’s ankle. It dropped Feris, but held onto the bag as it flapped away. It didn’t get far. Allianora watched the bag open and the vines shoot out, wrapping their way around the monster’s legs, up its body, and then onto its wings. It jerkily fell from the sky.

A quick prayer stopped the bleeding from Feris’ arm, but he was still pale from the blood loss, and the fright.

“Did anyone see where they came from?” Nimble asked.

“No, why? Worried about more of them?”

“Only a little. More curious if they’ve got anything worth looting in their lair.”




I unfortunately didn't keep a log of how I painted him. Originally all his fur was going to be brown, but it blended in too much with his skin, so I switched to grey. Overall a great sculpt from Bones 3, and the first Bones 3 mini I've painted.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Lasagna Golem

The wild looking man with the rolling pin yelled at the party from the second floor window.

"What is he saying?" Rathgar asked his companions.

"No idea. I don't speak the local dialect. But he sounds mad."

"What did we do?" Allianora asked, confused as the rest of her companions.

"We only just got into town-LOOK OUT!" The party dodged as the large iron pot of boiling water was poured down.

"That's uncalled for!" Feris yelled, tossing a freezing bolt toward the doorway. The cook looked incensed at the attack, and pointed his rolling pin down at them. A blast of scalding hot red liquid hit Feris solidly in the chest, splashing all over the street.

Rolling in pain warned his friends unnecessarily "He's a sauce-amancer!"

Rathgar gave a solid kick to the door, causing it to splinter, but the bar held. Another blast of tomato sauce shot down, drenching Rathgar, and staining everything he wore. Then the door burst outward, and a lumbering behemoth slammed its meaty fists into Rathgar, sending him flying across the street.

"It's worse! He's a pastamancer!" Allianora yelled before swinging her mace at the monstrosity. The molten cheese squired out from between the sheets of pasta that made up it's body. The bits that landed on Allianora burned, but she kept swinging.


Original Image from Curst

Lasagna Golem
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 10* (L)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: 2 Fists
Damage: 2d6+2/2d6+2 + Special
Save As: F8
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: Nil
Intelligence: 4
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 1,750

The Lasagna Golem, standing about 8' tall, and shaped with both 2 arms and 2 legs, but only a bit of a bump where a head would be. They are created only by Pastamancers and Pastafarian Clerics. It can only be damaged by magic or magic weapons. They are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells, as well as all gas and poison. They take double damage from cold based attacks.
Any time a lasagna golem is hit by a physical attack, everyone within 5' will take 1d6 damage from splattering hot cheese.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Stonehell: Finding the Wizards School

Session 38b was played on 5/7
Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
- torch bearers (JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
AARon, Thief 1 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Borumar Half Orc Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 2)

Hanging out in the Korners, the party does a bit of shopping, rumor gathering, and of course drinking. Matthias feels himself keenly wishing for something even more potent than dwarven steel, and asks around about getting it enchanted. He hears tell of a Plated Mage who is believed to enchant items, and is known to be seeking something called “Protomatter”

Deciding that they need more info than they can get in the Korners, everyone heads off to visit Rocky. After the usual pleasantries, including a gift of quartz for Rocky to chew on, they ask their questions.

What level of the dungeon is the wizards school?
-Seclusion is magic’s watchword. Seek the pit. (6)

Where exactly in the dungeon is the protomatter?
-Where baboons bathe and small men are washed clean. (6)

What map coordinates is the room with the pit to the wizards school located in?
1d44 (4)

The party then heads into the Quiet Halls, and runs into Mal Nul. He’s busy cleaning up one of the crypts, but asks if they could maybe bring him some strawberries next time they come by?

Returning to the Korners, the party finds a quiet corner in the tavern and looks over the map again. Eiric sends for Trustee Sniv and begins to negotiate for access to the rest of the Korners, if only to finish filling in the map. Sniv isn’t thrilled with the idea, but agrees to take Eiric and Matthias around for a look. The rest of the party has to stay put.

Sniv takes them around, showing the back areas of the Korners where non-kobolds are never otherwise allowed. He hustles them along, keeps them moving, and successfully avoids having them loot anything along the way.

Back in the tavern, Eiric adds what she saw to the map, but… And then it clicks. The pit, the wizards school!

Eiiric gets everyone together, tosses a couple of coins to the barkeep and heads out. They reclaim their weapons, and head down toward the slavers office. They helpfully show the slaves off, but Eiric’s eyes slide past them to look at the room. With barely a thank you she heads further down the hall to the stairs heading down into the Hobgoblin lair. They search the chamber, but don’t find anything.

Back up the hall, Eiric leads them to the midden. The pit of shit stinks, and the smell just rolls out into the hallway. None of the hirlings are thrilled, but Eiric orders everyone in and to start searching. Thankfully, at least at first, she doesn’t order anyone into the pit. And finally, they find a secret door, and the trigger!

The door opens, releasing some stale air into the stinky room. The dust and cobwebbed choked hall, twists away into darkness. The wizard’s school? At first nothing particularly magical seemed to stand out. In face the first doom was decidedly non-magical, containing only rotted furniture. The first sign of magic was when they reached a chamber containing an inlaid summoning circle. The brass circle shined as if just polished. The iron bookstand and silver mirror also were remarkably corrosion free. The three oozes that lurched at the party had barely begun to move before being chopped apart.

The next chamber was even weirder, with a pulsating lavender orb floating in the middle of the room, and a ruined workbench off in the corner, folded in on itself. Leaving well enough alone, they move on. Next they come upon 4 zombies in robes who are turned and destroyed.

A floating table dominated the next chamber, with a sideboard taking up one of the walls. The party (mostly Matthias and Borumar) played around with the table but couldn’t see any way to get it out of the room. The trophy room beyond the dining room was full of odd stuffed heads, strange bits of artwork, but no furniture.

Deeper into the school, they finally found a classroom, but no students. Giant rats had taken it over! When the vermin were disposed of, their nest was found to contain some gems and a potion! The next door opened into the teachers storage cabinet, which had another ooze, and a strange metal flask. The janitor’s closet across the hall was infested with slugs. After pouring salt on the bodies, a secret door into a shrine to Maths, a god of magic, and a pair of zombies. As usual, they’re turned and destroyed with no effort.

Behind the shrine is a secret passage leading to a fancy bedchamber, and under the rotted bed an invisible coffer that jingles wonderfully is found! Returning back to the janitors closet, they check the last door in that hallway, revealing the resting place of…. Someone. A sarcophagus with an old dusty mummy takes up most of the chamber. Among the rotted offerings was a vial of glowing liquid. The party makes sure to close the sarcophagus before they back out of the chamber.

Working their way back around, they return to the dining room, then off into the kitchen.

“Does anybody smell-“

BOOM!

The gas explosion, set off by JJ’s torch blasts most of the party. C, D, and JJ all drop, but are mostly found to be concussed. On the upside, the old cook’s stash of coins was discovered…

Not far from the kitchen the party finds the library! And 4 weird skeletons that ignore Darryl’s turning attempt. That doesn’t save them from being killed pretty quickly. Most of the books are water damaged, moldy, and in danger of disintegrating, but a set of slim spell books mostly seemed to have survived.

Continuing along, a long hall with mirrors seems to rip open everyone’s injuries. Orpheus slams into one burnished metal mirror, warping it, and tearing at everyone’s injuries even further. All of the hirelings drop from their wounds. The party drags out the bodies, and takes the back way back around to Kobold Korners.

Trustee Sniv and a troop of bodyguards catch them coming out of the midden, and demand to know how to access the school. Eiric tells him, and they limp off with their treasures back to town.

Gains: Complete map to Kobold Korners, Wizard School Quest complete, Various treasures worth 1,430gp, 3 potions, magic beaker, invisible box, spell book set w/ 10 spells
Kills: Topi (weird skeletons), Giant Slugs, Giant Rats, Zombies
Losses:

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Mialee - Elf Wizards with serious underboob!

You know those minis you keep coming back to? This is the third time I’ve sat down to paint these two wizards. The first time I simply got distracted. The second (about 3 years ago) I dropped one, hard, and the nose got smashed. This time I set out to actually finish them!

Here they are half painted, right where I stopped 3 years ago. You can see the damaged nose...


Not a whole lot of progress here...


These are actually different sculpts, or variations on the same sculpt anyway. On the Lost Miniatures Wiki they’re listed as Wizard of the Coast D&D 3.5 edition Mialee Elven Wizard WOC40031 and from Hero Box I - Mialee Elven Wizard with nipples. Honestly the bigger difference is the hair. The nipple version of the mini from the Hero box has completely smooth hair. The other difference is that the nipple Mialee also shows off her ass through a conveniently placed ass window.



Since they’re both showing a lot of skin, I decided to play with skin tones on them. After Goldar’s dark red and the half orc commander’s olive skin, I wanted to do something a little more realistic. Nipple Mailee I based on Scholar Flesh, and Awesome Hair Mailee I used ebony flesh.

I also wanted to do something kind of bright, since I usually go with more muted earth tones.

For Nipple Mialee, I added some hints of green to the "robes", worked on the skin tone and face, and did everything I could to hide the fact that helmets have more texture than her hair.

Nipples, and lots of underboob...


I actually think I kinda pulled it off... Nothing much I can do with the ass window though.

Mialee #2’s skin started off with an ebony flesh basevcoat, that was brought up with increasing amounts of ruddy flesh. To add a bit of color I went with Imperial Purple and Icy Violet. Sadly, her nose was smashed years ago, so I did my best to create the illusion of one, rather than going with the “turn her into an alien” option I went with for Ellen Stone and the other Bones 1 minis that lacked noses. Not sure how well I succeeded. On the other hand, for a tabletop quality paint job, I’m happy with the results.





Her robes started off as… actually I don’t remember originally. GW’s Goblin Green maybe? Whatever color it was, when I went to match it I picked Emerald Green which was close enough, but metallic! I’d already squirted some onto my pallet, and with a little prodding from OneBoot (from the Reaper Forum), I decided to give it a go. The effect kind of makes her look like a superhero! I added a bit of Polished Silver to it, and highlighted a bit. The yellow of the robe I painted over with Marigold Yellow (which, let’s be honest, is orange) then added Sun Yellow to bring it back up to a stronger yellow. Where there was underboob on the other version of the mini, there is some textured fabric or ribbon that I decided was studded with emeralds, so got the same Emerald Green metallic in dots on it.

The staff is straight Ruddy Flesh with some highlights of Leather Brown to give it some woodgrain. The weird wire wrapping around it was painted in gold.



I really should have stripped the paint and started completely over. Their faces have enough paint that they could be 90 year old women wearing stage makeup to try to look 55. At least they're done!



And if this post doesn't attract a whole lot of extra hits, I'll be shocked!

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Reaper Bone 4

They're at it again... The kickstarter kicked off today at about 1pm, and already they've hit $438,701 in pledges, 9 stretch goals, and things are chugging along.

As usual, the core set is a great deal... this time with the addition of a DRAGON! A Big Freaking Dragon!!


Not yet at the $1/mini stage, but it'll get there. Plus, Big Freaking Dragon!

Anyway, thought I'd share. Personally I'm looking forward to Baba Yaga's hut, which isn't yet revealed...